First Hope Bank

First Hope Bank is an independent, privately-held New Jersey community bank founded in 1911, operating three branches in Sparta, Andover, and Hackettstown and serving individual consumers and SMBs with personal banking, commercial lending, treasury management, and wealth/trust services across Sussex and Warren counties.

Company typePrivate
Founded1911
HeadquartersColumbia, United States
Headcount101–250
GTM typeB2B and B2C
OfferingServices

What First Hope Bank does

First Hope Bank is an independent, privately-held community bank founded in 1911 and headquartered in Columbia, New Jersey, operating three full-service branches in Sparta, Andover, and Hackettstown across Sussex and Warren counties. It serves individual consumers and small-to-medium-sized businesses with a full-stack retail and commercial banking suite: personal checking, savings, credit cards, mortgages, home equity loans, personal loans, and auto loans on the consumer side; business checking, savings, credit cards, commercial loans, and treasury management solutions on the commercial side; plus wealth management and trust/estate services through a separate First Hope Investments platform. Distribution combines physical branches, a 24/7 ATM network, telephone banking, and online/mobile banking applications on iOS and Android.

The underlying technology stack is a traditional community banking platform supplemented by standard digital banking front-ends (web and mobile), with no disclosed proprietary AI/ML capabilities, APIs, or developer-facing integrations. Revenue is generated primarily through net interest income on the lending book (mortgages, home equity, auto, personal, commercial) and deposit-funded assets, supplemented by transactional fees (checking, credit cards, wires, treasury services) and wealth management fees. The go-to-market is community-led: local decision-making authority on loans, multi-generational relationship banking, and visible community engagement through Habitat for Humanity partnerships and FHLBNY grant distributions to local fire and rescue organizations. The customer base is distributed long-tail retail and SMB with no disclosed enterprise concentration.

The bank operates with 101-250 employees, no parent company or institutional ownership disclosed, and no evidence of public listing, M&A activity, or external funding. Strategic activity in 2025-2026 was confined to community partnership initiatives and one senior leadership appointment (Ronna Marchello as VP/Market Manager), indicating a stable, relationship-driven operating posture rather than growth-stage expansion.

First Hope Bank firmographics

Firmographics

Name: First Hope Bank
Legal name: First Hope Bank
Website: https://firsthope.com
Company type: Private
Founded year: 1911
Operating status: Operating
Headcount range: 101–250 employees
Short description: First Hope Bank is an independent, privately-held New Jersey community bank founded in 1911, operating three branches in Sparta, Andover, and Hackettstown and serving individual consumers and SMBs with personal banking, commercial lending, treasury management, and wealth/trust services across Sussex and Warren counties.
Ownership category
akta.pro rank

First Hope Bank industry classification

Industry

Product category: Community Banking
NAICS: Commercial Banking (52211), Savings Institutions and Other Depository Credit Intermediation (522180), Funds, Trusts, and Other Financial Vehicles (525), Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (523940)
SIC: State Commercial Banks (6022), Personal Credit Institutions (6141)
akta.pro primary industry: Small Business Banking (Microbusiness/Sole Proprietor) (FSABAAAI)

Keywords

Community banking services
Personal lending products
Commercial lending solutions
Wealth management services
Small business banking

Where First Hope Bank is headquartered

Location

Headquarters

HQ city: Columbia
HQ country: United States
HQ region: North America

Offices4 records

Markets served

First Hope Bank business model

Business model

GTM type: B2B and B2C
Offering type: Services
Cost components: Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

Interest Income: Traditional banking interest income from lending activities including mortgages, home equity loans, personal loans, auto loans, and commercial loans. Interest earned on deposit accounts.
Fee-based Services: Banking fees including checking account fees, credit card fees, wire transfer fees, and other service charges.

Pricing tiers

Model	Billing	Price
Other	Monthly	Personal Banking Products

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels5 records

First Hope Bank product offering

Product offering

Core offering

First Hope Bank is a community bank that provides personal and business deposit products (checking, savings, credit cards), a full range of consumer and commercial loans (mortgage, home equity, personal, auto, and commercial loans), treasury management, wealth management, and trust and estate services. Customers are served through three branches in northern New Jersey and a digital banking platform with online, mobile, and telephone access.

Product overview

First Hope Bank is a community bank offering a comprehensive suite of personal and business banking products. The portfolio includes personal checking, savings, credit cards, and lending products (mortgage, home equity, personal loans, auto loans); business banking services (checking, savings, credit cards, treasury management, commercial loans); and wealth management including trusts and estate services. All offerings are supported through online and mobile banking platforms, with account access portals for both consumer and business customers.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Companies that use First Hope Bank

Customer profile

Named customers3 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

First Hope Bank technology and API

Technology

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API: No
API docs
API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

First Hope Bank partnerships and signals

Strategic signal

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

Habitat for Humanity Northwest New JerseycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 29 October 2025First Hope Bank partnered with Habitat for Humanity Northwest New Jersey to kick off the 2025 Rural Rally in Wantage, New Jersey. The partnership included volunteer efforts, a $5,000 donation, and donation of the bank's parking lot for a mobile Habitat ReStore. The event is part of the 2025 Carter Work Project aimed at expanding affordable housing in rural communities.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights3 records

First Hope Bank competitors and assessment

Company assessment

Broad incumbents

Columbia Financial Inc. NJ mutual holding company operating Columbia Bank across central and northern NJ — overlapping footprint and customer segment, though at meaningfully greater scale.
OceanFirst Financial Corp: NJ-based super-community bank with similar deposit-and-lending franchise and community-banking positioning, but materially larger asset base and broader NJ footprint.
Lakeland Bancorp: NJ-headquartered community bank holding company with deep northern NJ presence. Larger scale than First Hope but a direct comparable on product mix and customer profile, and a likely consolidation counterparty.
Peapack-Gladstone Financial Corp: NJ-based community bank with strong wealth-management franchise and affluent northern NJ clientele — directly comparable on private banking and lending product set.

Direct peers

BCB Community Bank: NJ community bank offering consumer and commercial banking products with a community-banking value proposition directly comparable to First Hope's.
Spencer Savings Bank: NJ mutual savings bank serving similar northern NJ communities. Direct comparable on retail-deposit, mortgage, and small-business product set and customer profile.
Northfield Bancorp: NJ community bank operating through subsidiaries including a former Two River Community Bank — overlapping northern NJ geography and similar SMB/community-banking customer mix.
Mariner's Bank: Small NJ community bank focused on personal and business banking in northern NJ — a similarly scaled, locally decisioning community-banking competitor.
ConnectOne Bancorp (formerly Investors Bank): NJ community bank with deep northern NJ presence; the recently hired VP/Market Manager previously held senior roles at Investors Bank, evidencing direct talent overlap and comparable customer franchise.
Two River Community Bank: Small NJ community bank that operated a similar community-bank model with a handful of branches in central/northern NJ — a close size and product analog.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

First Hope Bank financial estimates

Financial estimate

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

First Hope Bank leadership team

Management profile

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

First Hope Bank funding detail

Funding detail

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

First Hope Bank M&A and investment

M&A and investment

M&A

Investments1 record

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about First Hope Bank

What does First Hope Bank do?

Is First Hope Bank a public or private company?

First Hope Bank is a private company. It is classified as unknown and is currently operating.

When was First Hope Bank founded?

First Hope Bank was founded in 1911. It employs 101 to 250 people.

Where is First Hope Bank based?

First Hope Bank is headquartered in Columbia, United States, in the North America region.

How does First Hope Bank make money?

Two revenue lines are on record. Interest Income is the primary driver. The others are fee-based Services.

Who are First Hope Bank's main competitors?

Broad incumbents on record are Columbia Financial Inc., OceanFirst Financial Corp, Lakeland Bancorp and Peapack-Gladstone Financial Corp. Direct peers are BCB Community Bank, Spencer Savings Bank, Northfield Bancorp, Mariner's Bank, ConnectOne Bancorp (formerly Investors Bank) and Two River Community Bank.

Does First Hope Bank have an API?

No public API is recorded for First Hope Bank.

What industry is First Hope Bank in?

First Hope Bank's product category is Community Banking. Its primary akta.pro industry code is FSABAAAI, Small Business Banking (Microbusiness/Sole Proprietor). Its NAICS code is 52211 and its SIC code is 6022.